While listening to the first track,
“Don’t Cry Baby,” the first thing I noticed
was that I was enjoying the music so much that
I completely forgot that I should be taking
notes. The Berendsen’s recreation of brass
instruments captured the tone and texture of
the saxophones without the edginess that
sometimes is associated with equipment in this
price range. Dynamics are excellent and the
brass section’s aggressiveness is apparent but
isn’t tilted upward. Spacing between the
musicians is good and the soundstage extended
appropriately in front of the speakers.

Always
in the mood to get my Gospel praise on, I
pulled out Lonnie Hunter and the Voices of St.
Mark’s Next Level [Music Shoals MSCD
8018]. One of the more moving numbers is “I’m
In Need Of You” sung by soloist Stephanie
Crews along with the praise team. The only
minor complaint that I have with this
recording is that the engineers highlighted
the treble region. But I’ve always believed
that what is on the disc should not be glossed
over and four-fifths of the way through it
gets just a little aggressive on the top end.
This time remembering to write down some
details, the one characteristic that I noted
and circled repeatedly was that the
presentation was very musical. One of the
Berendsen’s strong suits is the way that it
allows vocalists to have a natural
presentation that doesn’t have that added
warmth that tends to enhance the performance
when you first hear it but later on becomes an
annoyance because you come to realize that it
shouldn’t be there. Yet despite that mild
aberration on the recording towards the end,
listening to Stephanie’s solo performance with
the STA 150 SE and PRE1 SE was a special
treat.

Still with an appetite for vocals but of a
different content, I turned to Gabriela Anders
from Argentina. Her music is a combination of
jazz and R & B with a little bit of soul. Her
debut CD entitled
Wanting, [Warner Bros 9 46907-2] shows off
her writing skills as well as her vocal
talents. She has a sweet sounding voice that
it is integrated well with the music. Before I
started this listening session I also wanted
to find out if I substituted cables if that
would make a difference in the sound. The
Soundstring cables are very good connectors in
their price range but when I inserted the
Virtual Dynamics Nite II Series cables, there
was a noticeable improvement. Already enamored
with the presentation, I was even more
impressed with how the VD allowed the
performers to have more of a presence, minor
details were more apparent and the soundstage
was fuller. Her duet with Eric Benet already
my favorite song on the disc was even more
enjoyable with the Virtual Dynamics inserted.
But then that should hardly come as a surprise
because the VD goodies cost as much as the
Berendsen and Von Schweikerts combined.

Switching
back to the Soundstring cables, on classical
music the Berendsen gear certainly delivered
the goods. On London Decca’s Lark ascending:
The soft Sounds of Vaughan Williams [455
612-2] was portrayed in a very relaxed way. A
big fan of string instruments I noticed that
the performance was very sweet sounding.
Musicians weren’t compressed together and the
soundstage wasn’t artificially extended. The
title track with Hagai Shaham on violin was
sweet and articulate. Another positive
attribute about listening to music with the
Berendsen gear is that I was able to listen at
low volumes and still enjoy the music. The
equipment was very quiet and didn’t focus on
one piece of the classical spectrum while
neglecting others and the combo just allowed
the beauty of Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece to
come through. Even though there are not a lot
of demanding tracks on this piece of music, on
other classical recordings that I listened to
I didn’t hear any areas where the Berendsen
gear was overwhelmed by the material.

Curious to hear how the Berendsen gear would
sound with an audiophile grade recording, I
selected Sheffield Labs’ 20-bit edition of Pat
Coil’s, Steps [10031-2-F]. According to
Sheffield Labs, this 20-bit mastering
technique will provide for “the truest and
most accurate CD master from the original
analog recording”. I’ve listened to both
versions and I can say that the audiophile
edition sounds significantly better than the
16-bit version. On this CD there are a number
of stellar performances featuring guest
drummer Will Kennedy (formerly of the
Yellowjackets) and Pauhihno Da Costa on
percussion. Once again that familiar theme of
musicality appeared. The Berendsen gear
allowed me to hear the definition and detail
that I’ve often heard on other systems that
generally cost one and a half to two times
more in retail price. Although not to the same
level the Berendsen certainly held it’s own.
After sending the STA 150 SE and the PRE1 SE
through its paces, I realized why there was
quite a buzz at CES 2005.

Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the
Berendsen equipment and was impressed with the
sound, or better yet, the lack of coloration
from this solid-state duo. These components
are very good in the areas of transparency and
detail. I feel that Sven has done a wonderful
job of designing equipment that doesn’t
interfere with the music on the recording, is
well made, and at $5495 for the power amp/
preamp combination, is a real bargain in
high-end audio. At this price level you have a
number of great choices, but I feel that the
Berendsen STA 150 SE power amplifier and PRE1
SE preamplifier does a good job of letting you
just sit back and enjoy your favorite
recordings and should be on your short list
for evaluation. Sven’s engineering goals of
allowing the music to sound as natural as
possible while not drawing much attention to
the equipment’s shortcomings was the reason
why I spent many enjoyable hours listening to
both older and newer material.

Regretfully, it is now time to send the review
samples back to Randall but I really enjoyed
my time with the Berendsen Audio gear. In
fact, because I felt that it did some really
good things, keeping in mind how much it costs
or doesn’t depending on how you look at it, I
decided to recognize the combo with a Stereo
Times “Most Wanted Component” award for 2005.

So thanks to Clement Perry for suggesting that
I also become an equipment reviewer (my latest
music review is on the way) because not only
did I have a lot of fun, but also unbeknownst
to him, I’m already getting a chance to
evaluate some of the “really good stuff”.
Highly recommended.